DUP leader Gavin Robinson has said he will never disrespect those who want to use the Irish language.
The East Belfast MP even shared that he speaks “Cúpla focal” (a few words in Irish), but has concerns with how he believes the language has been politicised.
The Irish language has traditionally been among issues which the DUP and Sinn Féin have struggled to agree over.
Former DUP leader Arlene Foster was heavily criticised in 2017 after comparing Sinn Féin’s then political demands for an Irish Language Act to a crocodile that “will keep coming back for more” if it is fed.
Mr Robinson said at a time of strained resources, more spending on the language does not sit well with him.
“I’ve never taken a standoff approach to something just because it’s not my background, nor do the majority of my community,” he said.
“I know a few words in Irish, but I know more in Ulster Scots. I also know the history of the Irish language. I know of its protection and renaissance and revival in Belfast in Northern Ireland.
“I know about the role that Presbyterian ministers played in that, and of an Orange Lodge dedicated in the memory of one of those ministers in Sandy Road.”
Mr Robinson said there is no difficulty with the history of the Irish language, but its “politicisation” by some, referencing a quote in the Irish republican community that every word of Irish spoken is a “bullet fired for Irish freedom”.
“Nobody in my party has ever stood against individuals having the freedom and ability through calling to understand and learn a language,” he said.
“What we have difficulty with is the weaponisation of that language, the phrase used that I think polluted the debate around this, that every word that gets spoken, another shot fired in the struggle for Irish freedom, unnecessary, provocative.
“The idea that at a time of strained resources that more and more and more public money needs to be put into the pursuit of Irish when that means there are consequences for others, doesn’t sit well with me.
“But I’ll never be disrespectful to those who want to engage with or use Irish, and I never have.”
